Industry experts expected store sales to affect the retail sector, and found their predictions were correct by year-end. "The wrap-up to 2008 was as advertised," Tony Cerniglia, vice president of retail services with CB Richard Ellis in Atlanta, tells GlobeSt.com. A steady barrage of bad news on the credit front and from retailers will make the market outcome no surprise, he says. Research reports on the retail sector have not yet been released.

"Atlanta, in relation to the rest of the country, has fared better than most," Cerniglia says. "We still enjoy demographics that are increasing, including a growing population." However, a "tremendous amount of new retail added this year has greatly weakened the market, bringing rental rates down as much as 30% in comparison to last year." On a positive note, many new projects expected to come online after 2008 have been halted or abandoned, which should create a more healthy environment for 2009.

The industrial market experienced a negative overall absorption of 1.3 million square feet--the first time that number has gone down in many years, says Wit Truitt, senior vice president with CBRE. Cushman and Wakefield reports that the region has seen an average absorption of 14 million square feet every year since 2004, making 2008 the lowest level of yearly absorption since 2003. "That shows how difficult 2008 has been," says Truitt.